One Visit, Two Shots – Is It Safe to Get COVID and Flu Vaccines Together?

One Visit, Two Shots - Is It Safe to Get COVID and Flu Vaccines Together?
One Visit, Two Shots - Is It Safe to Get COVID and Flu Vaccines Together? Credit | iStock

United States: The US CDC recommended, everyone six months and more get the latest COVID vaccines and the updated flu vaccines.

COVID-19 and Flu shots at the same time?

The advantage is particularly key for young children, the agency noted.

CDC noted, “Giving several shots at the same time means fewer office visits,” and “This saves parents time and money, and can be less traumatic for the child.”

What more are the experts stating?

However, Dr. Marc Siegel, who is a senior medical analyst and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, agrees it is fine to get them both at the same time, but he prefers to do them separately.

Those people should get both vaccines at the same doctor’s or pharmacist’s visit, says Dr. Jacob Glanville, CEO of Centivax, a San Francisco biotechnology company.

As he mentioned, “My personal taste on this as a practicing internist is I tend to separate them, only because I want to know which is causing which side effects, so I can monitor it,” Fox News reported.

“But for people who say, ‘I’m only going to the pharmacy once, is it safe to have them together?’ the answer is absolutely yes,” he added.

Visual Representation. Credit | Getty images

Moreover, “Studies have shown that co-administering flu and coronavirus vaccines makes them work about as effectively as administering them separately,” he added.

Glanville mentioned that he personally gets both vaccines at once for two reasons: “because of the science and for convenience.”

“I didn’t feel that the logistical nuisance was worth the wait for me personally, and I would rather get it over with on a single vaccine day than have to schedule multiple visits,” he continued.

It also means patients can get faster vaccine coverage against both pathogens, Glanville noted.

“Even if you are someone who might experience some side effects from a vaccine, I prefer to combine them,” he discerned.